"I dream that my son grows well and becomes a good student," shares the mother of 19-month-old Kevin.
Kevin lives with his parents and one younger brother in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof in Guatemala. Kevin loves to play with his toy cars with his brother. His parents want the best for him but, right now, they cannot even afford to give him one egg, fruit, or vegetable per day. That's because his mother works to take care of him and his brother and his father works as a day laborer, making an inconsistent and small income.
Kevin is suffering from malnutrition. He is having trouble gaining weight and growing taller because he doesn't have access to the healthy diet he needs. This has made him lose his appetite, and his immune system has grown weak due to the lack of calories and nutrients. He gets sick frequently and, when he does get sick, he often gets dangerously dehydrated and dangerously loses more weight. In the long-term, he could face stunted neurodevelopment, an increased risk of chronic disease, and a hard time getting or keeping a job if he does not receive treatment.
Growth monitoring, micronutrient and food supplementation, and deworming medication will help Kevin recover from malnutrition. He will gain weight and grow taller to catch up with other children his age. His immune system will grow stronger with the increased caloric intake, preventing him from having any more life-threatening situations with diarrhea, fevers, and cough. This will further increase his appetite and help him use the extra calories to develop mentally instead of those calories being wasted on getting over frequent illnesses.
Kevin's parents will receive support to give Kevin the diet he needs to grow and develop healthily. Intervention now will prevent the future devastating effects of malnutrition, and give Kevin the chance to live a healthy and productive life, finish school, get a good job, and escape the cycle of malnutrition and poverty that made him sick in the first place.